Mechanical and electronic gaming machines are generally well known and have been relatively popular, and profitable, for a number of years. Such machines can be configured to provide a variety of casino or entertainment games, including for example, mechanical or electromechanical slot-type matching games, video games or electronic casino games, such as video poker, blackjack, keno, roulette, etc. Such gaming machines typically have an exterior cabinet or housing enclosing the game's mechanical or electronic components, a user input device or control panel, and one or more displays or arrays for visually presenting the game to a player.
Typically, such gaming machines are arranged at gaming establishments in clusters or banks consisting of at least two machines that are physically located adjacent or in close proximity to one another. Usually, gaming machines in a bank will be the same, size style or type (e.g., upright, slant-top, table-top), be made by the same manufacturer, and/or offer identical or related games having a common themes, characters or methods of play.
Commonly, clusters or banks of gaming machines occasionally can include separate electronic or luminescent displays, lights, or signs that can be affixed to the housing of one or more of the machines or to some other nearby structure. For example, displays can be suspended from the ceiling or wall, mounted on free-standing stands, or otherwise inserted into the environment in an environmentally-dependent and non-standardized way. Such displays can include, for example, electroluminescent “bank signs” or video monitors that can present static graphics, electronic images or dynamic video for purposes of promoting or drawing attention to the game(s) or the gaming establishment. Typically, such displays are positioned above the gaming machines so that they can be easily seen at a distance across a gaming establishment. Such displays can be mechanically and/or electrically coupled to one or more machines or be independently powered.
Typically, operators of gaming establishments will periodically rearrange, substitute or replace gaming machines within a bank or relocate machines to different locations within a gaming venue. Where an overhead display is used in connection with such games, usually the display has to either be taken down, repositioned or otherwise repurposed for an alternative use. In addition, where the operator wishes to transfer the display for continued use with relocated machines, the display generally has to be remounted to a different structure or machine in the new location. Such undertakings can be extremely time consuming and labor intensive.
Thus, in view of the foregoing, it would be useful for a gaming machine, or mounting device affixed to a gaming machine, to be able to securely support a display apparatus directly onto a gaming machine. It would be further useful for such machine or device to provide configurations allowing for standardized mounting arrangements for such a display apparatus, which would in turn allow the operators of casinos or gaming venues to standardize their signage and other display means. It would also be useful to use the cabinets of the gaming machines themselves—which are typically very well made and of high quality—to be incorporated as part of the mounting system to allow the mechanical strength of the cabinets to become part of the mounting system. It will be recognized by persons of ordinary skill in the art that such mounting devices, structures and systems can improve the operation and productivity of the gaming venue as well as having certain aesthetic benefits.